Ubuntu Laika – an Android phone pen testing platform

Once [Ruan] over at AndroidClone heard that Android devices were capable of running a full Linux environment, he started contemplating all of the things he might be able to do with a full Linux OS in his pocket.

He decided that a portable penetration testing platform would be great to have on hand, so he got busy installing Ubuntu 10.10 on his Lenovo LePhone. Once he had it up and running, he stripped out all of the unnecessary fluff and added some common tools such as Wireshark, Nmap, and Kismet, among others. He says it easily runs side by side with Android, allowing you to switch between the Ubuntu install and your standard Android applications with ease.

While this all started out as a proof of concept, he has continued to refine the project, releasing several new versions along the way. If you are interested in giving it a try, he has installation instructions available in the AndroidClone forums.

Gaining full control of an Android cellphone is always useful but being able to replace the whole Android with a Linux version where apps can talk to the hardware without the huge limitations of the Java layer, besides being able to develop truly native apps (the Android NDK is close to a joke) would be a killer hack: the phone would become a lot faster and a ton of memory/storage space would become available for other uses, let alone the longer battery life due to the lower power consumption.
AFAIK today only a few phones and tablets can be reflashed using Meego or similar distros, but hopefully things will change in the future if enough efforts will be directed in that direction.

Is that REAL monitor mode? I only know of two monitor-mode capable drivers for phones
1) the mac80211-based “WL12xx” for the G1. This driver is old as crap, Android changes too quickly for the driver to be compatible.
2) the “bleeding edge WL1251″ for the N900 (monitor, injection, the works).

Android is just too different from Linux to get good drivers and non-app programs. I’d get an N900 if I could afford it.